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Construction workers position a large rock into place (lowered by crane) in the seating area of the newly renovated Stern Grove concert facilities at Sigmund Stern Grove, Sloat Blvd.
Event on 4/5/05 in San Francisco.
Darryl Bush / The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT

Photo: Darryl Bush

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Construction workers position a large rock into...

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Newly planted trees in the seating area, are protected during construction of the newly renovated Stern Grove concert facilities at Sigmund Stern Grove, Sloat Blvd.
Event on 4/5/05 in San Francisco.
Darryl Bush / The Chronicle MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/ -MAGS OUT

Progress in the park: There haven't been a whole lot of changes to Stern Grove since its creation by the Works Progress Administration back in the '30s, but just wait till you get a load of the new and vastly improved Stern Grove when the 68th season opens on June 19.

This year's unusually heavy rain has slowed down the $15 million renovation of the grove, but not enough to dampen anyone's hopes of finishing the project by mid-May. Things were a bit muddy last week when I toured the grove, but it was easy to see how the finished project is taking shape and to imagine how jaws will drop appreciatively when patrons set eyes on the old stomping grounds.

So, exactly how do you renovate a grove of trees and a meadow?

Well, there was some talk early on about shifting the whole thing by 90 degrees, said Stern Grove Director of Operations Peter Palermo, but that would have created a long, narrow performance space that just didn't seem to offer that many advantages over the existing arrangement.

The most visible highlight of the new design is multiple levels of stone- banked terraces, with broad aisles, a zillion new plantings, 3 feet of level grass on each terrace and a "bleacher" section in back, all in stone. The stage has been expanded (though the Ballet, when it returns to the grove next year, will still have to jete into conveniently arranged stage shrubbery in the "wings"). The stage is not only wider, but it also has little peninsulas of space on each corner of the lip. There are also new lighting and sound structure around the front of the stage, new dressing rooms, greenroom and an office building.

While all of the work will definitely make for a more attractive Stern Grove, it's also designed to preserve the natural beauty of the place.

"The old grove was being loved to death," Palermo said, explaining that it was suffering from erosion problems and other threats. The new grove, he said, "will last 500 years." One change, for example, has to do with the unsexy matter of drainage. In the past, rainwater drained into the city's sewer system, but now, rainwater will drain into a creek, which, in turn, will feed Pine Lake.

Here's to you, Mom: The renovations have been Goldman's dream since he assumed oversight of the grove after the death of his mother, Rhoda, for whom the meadow is appropriately named. But planning began in earnest six years ago and construction began in August, the day after the final performance of the 2004 season.

"We are thrilled with Larry Halprin's design," he said, adding that the grove is "the only park in San Francisco you actually descend into.

"The design fulfills the requirements we had to make the grove safer and more accessible and at the same time to increase its attractiveness. It's become a world-class park and performing space."

The renovation is the biggest part of a $20 million campaign, of which $16.2 million has been raised so far. The rest of the money, Goldman said, is needed to build an endowment to lessen what has always been an annual struggle to present the series of free concerts every summer that attract thousands of people on Sunday afternoons.

Costs include paying performers the going rate, something that many patrons may not realize.

"It's free to attend, but it's not free to put on," Goldman said.

The expansion will continue once the last multi-ton boulder is in place, but Goldman's other plans can't be measured in feet and tons: He wants to see Stern Grove follow other organizations to increase its outreach programs, particularly into public schools.

By the way, the season announcement will be made on May 1. Watch this or nearby space.

Tenor of the times: Oakland's Kalil Wilson, a budding opera tenor, is well on his way to an impressive career at 23. He will study and perform this summer at the Aspen Summer Music Festival, where he will sing the role of the Aegean in Cavalli's rarely performed opera "Giasone." He recently won first place in the Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert's vocal competition and second place in the Met's Western region auditions. A Gluck Foundation fellow in the UCLA music department, he began his music studies with the UC Berkeley Young Musicians Program and the Oakland Youth Chorus. His father is Baba Ken Okulolo, a well-known Bay Area educator and Nigerian bandleader.

"Madrugada," the opera for which author Barry Gifford has written the libretto, is moving toward its world premiere on Aug. 19 at the Schleswig- Holstein Musik Festival in the Kiel Opera House in Germany. The music was supposed to have been composed by Toru Takemitsu, but after the composer's death, the challenge fell to his disciple, Ichiro Nodaira.